Florida State 7, UCSB 6 FINAL (Mon, March 24th)

[nine]

Thank you Strykerfsu for the game reporting. Exceptional if I say so myself.

waiit a minute...stryker is stickside, stickside is stryker....EINHORN IS A MAN!!!!!

[EvanFSU]

If Stryker is accurate (which I'm sure he is) all of FSU's goals came from a junior, a couple sophomores, and a freshman. I know the defense starts 2 freshman and a junior as well so what a great job by all these young guys to step up.

[Hugh Nunn]

If Stryker is accurate (which I'm sure he is) all of FSU's goals came from a junior, a couple sophomores, and a freshman. I know the defense starts 2 freshman and a junior as well so what a great job by all these young guys to step up.

It looked like EVERYONE stepped up tonight. Faceoffs seemed to go more the Noles way in the second half. There was a level of intensity and hustle for FSU that I had not seen before (admittedly I have not seen many games recently). But I think this is a game that the Noles can build on to set the tone for the rest of the season.

The Gouchos' goalie made some sick saves to keep them in it. FSU had many quality scoring opportunties but either missed the cage or had a brilliant save.

[StrykerFSU]

Thanks for posting StickSideHigh.

A heck of a game. Things got very interesting in the last 2-3 minutes as it seemed the FSU offense was going to make every effort to regain their 2 goal cushion, even if it meant handing the ball back to the Gauchos time and time again. I'm going to try to avoid being too much of a homer but the 'Noles pulled it out so I am a bit justified in singing their praises but just to be safe, I'll talk about the Gauchos first.

The Gauchos have no reason to hang their heads after that one. They battled back repeatedly and really impressed me with the level of their stick handling (Warning: East Coast Bias). #33 Schaible played a heck of a game and seemed to be covering the ball at all times. He did a great job of using his height to his advantage and seemed to be equally comfortable covering middies up top or when asked to cover #3 Noonan, without question FSU's biggest threat. #4 Sindell had a great game and #44 (didn't get a name) has a rocket of a left. #16 Wellin also performed well. It seemed that there was a bit of a drop off offensively after that as several Gauchos dropped easy shooting opportunities or missed the cage completely.

That said, the story of the game was FSU's goalie, Stephen Heiman. I have him with 15 saves unofficially and he bailed out the Noles young D on more than one occasion. There were moments of poor decision making on some clear attempts but on at least one occasion the fault lay squarely at the feet of the D-middie who beelined for the box rather than looking back for the ball. It was only fitting that Heimen sealed the win with a save at the buzzer after the officials gift wrapped a man up for UCSB with 18 seconds left.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the outstanding all around effort put in by Corey Noonan. He wasn't the big scorer of the day but he made his presence known with his unstoppable motor and will to win. He consistently drew the top defender but was able to find open teammates, perhaps the greatest attribute an attackmen can possess. That is to say nothing of his effort on groundballs and rides which borders on the sublime. This is someone who deserves real attention from the AA voters come season's end. I can hear the argument already that he pads his stats against weak teams...but if you think that an attackmen should only garner praise for his achievements in the point column well, then I don't know what to tell you.

All in all, a very evenly matched game with momentum swings and high intensity throughout. I have never been prouder to support this program. Thanks to the UCSB parents and friends who made the trip. They are an enthusiastic and classy bunch.

Can't wait to see the new poll!

[Ravaging Beast]

Stryker,
Good game report. UCSB has a very young team as well. I think there are only three seniors that see a considerable amount of playing time. #44 is Nick Nyeholt. He is a freshman along with #16 Nate Wellin. Both have very strong shots. Schaible and Sindell are juniors. So it looks like the young guys stepped it up for both teams. This game could be a good matchup for the next few years. Hopefully the two teams will continue to play each other. Congratulations to FSU. This should boost their standing in the league.

Now it's off to Gainesville for the Gauchos. Grudge match...at least in my eyes. I think Coach Miller might take this game personally as well. I know Danny and Catlaxman remembers the late hit.

[Laxbum]

Congrats to FSU on a solid OOC win. Maybe the SELC will get a bit more respect.

Looking forward to the UF/FSU game in a few weeks.....

[StickSideHigh]

The only thing missing from FSU is a dominate left handed middie like they used to have a few years back. Other than that they are a very well rounded team with plenty of talent.